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The Benefits of Playing Games
By Sheila O ‘Reilly @rascals_and_rainbows
I introduced games to both my girls at age 3 and they really enjoy playing together. Board games, card games and games like Hape Ocean Rescue, are a great way to explore winning and losing with your child and an opportunity to teach them about playing fairly, following rules, taking turns and dealing with success and also disappointment.
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The benefits of small world play
By Sheila O’Reilly
Www.instagram.com/rascals_and_rainbows
Small world play is a favourite with my girls. It is a wonderful way to let young children act out real life scenarios and also use their imaginations to create fantasy worlds. There are many benefits to children's learning and development through small world play and it is an important component of play in early years settings.
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The Benefits of Bookish Play and using Story Sacks
Written by Sheila O’Reilly
Www.instagram.com/rascals_and_rainbows
Bookish play is a wonderful way of introducing books to your little one and will generally keep their attention for much longer than just reading the story. Children love to play! Fun and interactive activities based on their story book can spark their imagination and really bring a story to life.
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Toys to develop fine motor skills and Hand Strength
Fine motor skills and hand strength help children perform important everyday tasks such as, feeding themselves, zipping clothes and writing and drawing.
Fine motor skills are an important factor when children are learning to write and the strength and dexterity in their hand can assist in their success or hinder their progress.
Two recent additions to The Wooden Play Den provide great opportunity for development of fine motor skills and two of my lovely team tried them out with their children.
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Wooden toys supporting children with additional needs
So a brief bit about me to start. I am Naomi (@naomimorris16), mum to two girls aged 7 and 3. My eldest daughter has Autism, and I have worked in the field of special needs for the last 11 years. I am hoping in the blog that follows, you will gain some insight into how wooden toys can be beneficial to all children, but in particular to those with additional needs. Not a day goes by at both home and school where we don’t use at least one wooden toy!
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On 20th July 2019, it is the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landings, so we are planning a week filled with Space themed play.
To kick start the week, one of my lovely customers, Caroline has provided a review of the Robot Construction Kit.
Robot Construction Kit: Review
My kids are robot OBSESSED. It started with Ned, who we naturally cant get enough of, then extended into robot books, t-shirts, pajamas… if its got a robot on, they want it. We have made robots using junk from the recycling box, and even robot costumes – mostly out of delivery boxes from The Wooden Play Den! So when I saw the Tenderleaf robot construction set it was a no-brainer.
